That's because the city's Human Services Department, which has been under an FBI investigation since May following Free Press stories of misspending and mismanagement, fell far short of its goal of spending $33 million on weatherizing more than 5,000 homes in three years.
With only about three months left before the Jan. 31 deadline to spend the money, the city has used just $19 million to weatherize 3,050 homes, according to Mayor Dave Bing's office.
Hoping to help more Detroiters by the deadline, the state forced the city to forfeit $9.2 million of weatherization funds in April and July and handed $5 million to the Michigan Community Action Agency Association, which will sprint to distribute the money to as many homeowners as possible, MCAAA Director Jim Crisp said Monday.


There was actually $14 million left on the table. $9.2 million went back. $5 million went to MCAAA.

I don't know about other contractors, but our company could have handled more houses, as long as we were getting paid. But they are so slow paying that a normal business cannot survive when you don't receive payments for 90 days or more.

There was a question about the counties getting they money...Most counties got their own funds. I know for sure that Oakland, Macomb and Wayne did. But for some reason, the City of Detroit got their own funds, away from the County of Wayne. The Department of Human Services was administering this program. I could tell you hours worth of horror stories about how they messed up over and over again. If someone wants the specifics, let me know. But suffice it to say that they were so bogged down in paperwork and losing that paperwork over and over again I can understand why they were slow. I will also say that whoever is doing their bookkeeping and paying their bills should go back to school and learn how to add and subtract.
Out of 20 invoices sent in, not one...NOT ONE...came back with the payment equalling the amount due. And THEY set the rates that contractors are paid and what work is going to be done.

But I'm sure they didn't have any problem paying the invoices for the new furniture in the Director's office